Professional success eluded Dorner

This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements, is linked to a weekend killing in which one of the victims was the daughter of a former police captain who had represented him during the disciplinary hearing. Authorities believe Dorner opened fire early Thursday on police in cities east of Los Angeles, killing an officer and wounding another. Police issued a statewide "officer safety warning" and police were sent to protect people named in the posting that was believed to be written by Dorner. AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department

The former Los Angeles police officer sought in the deaths of three people, including a police officer, received years of law enforcement and military training, yet didn't distinguish himself in his police or naval career.

But Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, did cut an imposing figure. He played football at Cypress High School as a defensive tackle. Statistics from his senior year list him as 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds. He graduated in 1997, but his tenure was rocky.

High school administrators disciplined Dorner after he beat a teacher who tried to break up a fight, a classmate said. She asked not to be identified while he was still at large. Dorner mentions the incident in his now widely known and threat-filled "manifesto" and names a school administrator.

After Cypress, he attended Southern Utah University, where he also played football. He graduated in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in psychology.

In 2002, he joined the Navy. There, Dorner was assigned to various aviation-training units as an active-duty officer.

He moved to the Navy Reserve in 2004, and in 2005 entered the Los Angeles Police Academy. In one incident related by Dorner, he was riding in a van with other recruits when one used a racial slur. In the manifesto, Dorner describes choking him after an argument, adding he wished he had killed him.

After a year in the police academy, Dorner was assigned as a patrol officer in Los Angeles' Harbor Division in 2006.

That year, he clashed with a former girlfriend. Dorner, in a June 2006 request for a restraining order, accused her of cyberstalking and harassing him by making intimidating phone calls and posting his name and badge number on the Internet.

Court papers filed by Dorner include an anonymous post on the website dontdatehimgirl.com, labeling him as severely emotionally and mentally disturbed.

"This guy is twisted. ... He is super paranoid, always thinking that everyone is out to get him," said the posting.

The post continues: "Anyway be careful because this guy is a police officer. ... He will probably think he can get away with anything."

She denied the allegations in a response to the court, which rejected the restraining order.

At the LAPD, Dorner was on the job for only a few months when he was called back into active service by the Navy.

For several months, he was assigned to San Diego. He then spent about five months overseas.

Jamie Koyama, 34, said she was deployed in Kuwait with Dorner between 2006 and 2007. On base, Dorner took part in football games and watched out for stray cats.

"He was a really, really nice guy," she said. "He always had a smile on his face."

He often spoke about being a police officer in Los Angeles.

"The way he talked about it made it seem like he had been LAPD a long time," she said.

When he returned, he continued drilling one weekend a month and two weeks a year with the reserves until 2010. At that time, his status turned to inactive. He was honorably discharged Feb. 1 from service; Navy officials did not know what led to the end of his service.

This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements, is linked to a weekend killing in which one of the victims was the daughter of a former police captain who had represented him during the disciplinary hearing. Authorities believe Dorner opened fire early Thursday on police in cities east of Los Angeles, killing an officer and wounding another. Police issued a statewide "officer safety warning" and police were sent to protect people named in the posting that was believed to be written by Dorner. AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department
In this handout picture provided by Los Angeles Police Department , the alleged suspect Christopher Dorner is seen on February 7, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. A former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who had allegedly warned he would target law enforcement, is suspected three police officers killing one. Dorner is also a suspect in two weekend killings of Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence who were found dead in a car inside a parking structure. Photo by LAPD via Getty Images
This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements, is linked to a weekend killing in which one of the victims was the daughter of a former police captain who had represented him during the disciplinary hearing. Authorities believe Dorner opened fire early Thursday on police in cities east of Los Angeles, killing an officer and wounding another. Police issued a statewide "officer safety warning" and police were sent to protect people named in the posting that was believed to be written by Dorner. AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department
In this image provided by the Irvine, Calif., Police Department, former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is shown. A manhunt spread across southern California on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 for Dorner, a former Los Angeles police officer, who has threatened to kill police, is being sought in two weekend killings and is a suspect in an overnight shooting that killed one officer and critically wounded another. AP Photo/Irvine Police Department
This undated series of photos released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements, is linked to a weekend killing in which one of the victims was the daughter of a former police captain who had represented him during the disciplinary hearing. Authorities believe Dorner opened fire early Thursday on police in cities east of Los Angeles, killing an officer and wounding another. Police issued a statewide "officer safety warning" and police were sent to protect people named in the posting that was believed to be written by Dorner. AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department
1997 Cypress High yearbook photo of Christopher Dorner during his Senior year. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Christopher Dorner, #32 in the third row from the bottom, is featured in the Cypress High School yearbook during the 1997 football season. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Christopher Dorner, #32, is featured in the Cypress High School yearbook during the 1997 football season. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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